Three Greater Culinary Stars Nominated for James Beard Foundation Awards

Two Boston food professionals and one Brookline dining establishment have been nominated to the list for the James Beard Foundation awards. Boston's Cassie Piuma of Sarma and Erin Miller of Urban Hearth and Brookline bar Merai have all received nominations. 

Learn more about these culinary treasures in the greater Boston community. 

Outstanding Chef nominee

Piuma directs this Mediterranean-inspired kitchen in Somerville. Reservations are very difficult to obtain. If you manage to get one, your taste buds will be treated to culinary specialties such as Tunisian tacos with tuna tartare, mapo tofu tagine with spicy beef, and lamejun chili verde. 

Everyone's favorite fried chicken is on the menu, along with Black Sea cornbread with honey and feta. Piuma has been nominated for a Beard award several times in the past.

249 Pearl St., Somerville; 617-764-4464; sarmarestaurant.com

Best Chef: Northeast nominee

The tasting menu at Miller's Urban Hearth takes guests into a journey of foods from the seasons. This North Cambridge restaurant makes an ideal spot for a date nights with its à la carte farm-to-table cuisine in a rustic but sophisticated setting. Don't forget to sample the buttermilk biscuit with smoked miso maple butter.

2263 Massachusetts Ave., North Cambridge; 617-682-7295; urbanhearth.net

Best New Bar nominee

Brookline's Thai-inspired bar offers Asian fusion specialties such as tom kha mushroom risotto, a Thai-spiced interpretation of yukhoe; Korean-style beef tartare; and a kra pao sausage with salted yolk mayo. Cleverly crafted cocktails take the stage here.

14 Harvard St., Brookline Village, meraibar.com

According to Boston magazine, the James Beard Foundation awards, often referred to as the "Oscars of the food world," recognize entrants in approximately two dozen categories. Nominees are announced in a multi-tiered process from January through April. This year, on June 16 in Chicago, the winners of this year's awards will be revealed.

Each year, the Foundation makes an open public call for recommendations. A voting body made up of James Beard Foundation subcomittee members and judges from around the country decide the winners of the awards.